Fifth Third Bancorp Has $571.92 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 778,775 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,367 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.8% of Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $571,917,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after acquiring an additional 8,405,558 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532,568 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 103.5% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,998,624 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,475,166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016,667 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Secured multiyear GPU/CPU and codesign deal with NVIDIA that locks supply and a roadmap (Rubin/Vera, confidential computing) — this makes Meta’s AI rollout and large‑scale personalization (e.g., WhatsApp agents) more credible and is a primary driver of investor buying. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Latest results and marketing metrics show AI is improving ad efficiency — Q4 revenue and EPS beat and stronger ad metrics support the thesis that AI can monetize engagement and help justify infrastructure spend. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional/activist positioning (including Bill Ackman / Pershing Square and other funds adding stakes) is providing conviction behind the rally and reduces short‑term supply risk. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Horizon Worlds is being repositioned to mobile and explicitly decoupled from Quest VR — this reduces near‑term execution risk for Reality Labs but also signals less near‑term upside if VR hardware adoption stalls. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Product/ecosystem updates (revived smartwatch plans; third‑party “Made for Meta” integrations like Virtuix) expand the device roadmap but are unlikely to move core ad revenue near term. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Very large 2026 CapEx guidance (~$115–$135B) raises real margin and ROIC risk — if AI monetization lags, the spending could compress returns and leave Meta exposed to depreciating infrastructure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Notable insider selling (COO, CFO and at least one director disclosed multi‑trade sales) can add short‑term supply and raises questions about timing of personal liquidity events. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing legal and child‑safety scrutiny (Zuckerberg testimony, PTA distancing, and public reporting on content/encryption tradeoffs) is an overhang that could affect user engagement, regulatory costs or ad targeting over time. Read More.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total transaction of $1,574,473.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,746,335.16. This trade represents a 16.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $642.22, for a total transaction of $333,312.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,737,989.48. This trade represents a 1.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,310 shares of company stock valued at $18,159,577. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Pivotal Research cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $844.29.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $655.66 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $656.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $689.03.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The company had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.02 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.